On November 6, the Dr. Antoni Esteve Foundation presented its 2024 Research Award to Iker Ausejo and Marta Alonso, researchers at Cima and the University of Navarra Clinic. His research group published an article in 2023 in the journal Cancer Cellin which they confirmed a possible therapeutic target against the most aggressive childhood cancer. Marta Esteve, Trustee of the Dr. Antoni Esteve Foundation, has been in charge of presenting the award to Iker Ausejo, first author of the award-winning article.
The award ceremony was attended by the President of the Royal Academy of Pharmacy of Catalonia, Joan Permanyer, and the Deputy Director General of Research and Innovation in Health of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Montserrat Llavayol, who wanted to highlight the work of the Esteve Foundation in the promotion of scientific research. “With the devotion with which you talk about your research, you transmit to us this imperative need to fight to find funds for research,” he also conveyed to the winners of this scientific award.
“As the members of the jury have highlighted, the research that is awarded today represents an important contribution to the therapy against a type of childhood cancer characterized by its special aggressiveness. Therefore, it is a source of pride that the Dr. Antoni Esteve Foundation Research Award will be awarded this year 2024 to a work that perfectly exemplifies the mission and values of this institution in favor of innovation and quality in research,” said Pol Morales, head of communication at the Dr. Antoni Esteve Foundation.
For his part, Jaume Piulats, member of the jury of the 2024 Esteve Foundation Research Award, reasoned his decision. “Iker Ausejo and the team led by Marta Alonso have shown that TIM-3 can be a target for the treatment of diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (GPID), an aggressive brainstem tumor and the leading cause of pediatric cancer-related death.” The decision was unanimous along with the other two members of the jury, Ralf Jockers, from the Cochin Institute in Paris, and Christian Beauséjour, from the University of Montreal.
“This study is presented as a therapeutic target that can guide the development of clinical trials”
Due to the location of the tumor, the therapeutic options of the GPID are limited, so it is essential to study effective treatments. “In recent years, immunotherapy has proven to be an alternative for many types of cancer. However, due to the unique tumor microenvironment of GPIDs, classical inhibitors have not been effective in these pediatric patients,” explained Iker Ausejo.
This research, integrated into the Cancer Center Clínica Universidad de Navarra, demonstrates that the inhibition of TIM-3 promotes a pro-inflammatory tumor microenvironment that favors a powerful antitumor immune response. “As a result, the long-term survival of experimental models increases. Therefore, TIM-3 is presented as a therapeutic target that can guide the development of clinical trials for these patients,” explained Marta Alonso, co-director of the Solid Tumors Program at Cim and director of the study.
This year, the Dr. Antoni Esteve Foundation Research Award has recognised the best research in pharmacology published in the last three years by an author of Spanish nationality in an international scientific journal. The award is endowed with €25,000, one of the highest in scientific matters in Spain.